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Monday, 24 March 2014

St Patricks Day in Luang Prabang, Laos

I had probably one of the most hilarious St Patricks day experiences while staying in Luang Prabang, Laos.

After doing my thang during the day, wandering about and visiting a bunch of wats as per usual, I was invited to go watch a movie at one of the bookstores.

We watched 'Her', which is slightly strange (the main character falls in live with his operating system) but still really well done. It was slightly surreal to be watching it in a room full of foreigners, but strangely enjoyable.

I then went to Utopia bar with some people. Thank goodness I followed them, I would never have been able to find it otherwise! It's kind of snuck in some back alleyway, but is the 'hip' place to be. Understandably - it has a super cool and laid back atmosphere, and was blasting the Irish beats and playing some 'footy' on the 'telly' so everyone was into it.

Laos has a sneaky country-wide curfew, however, which is enforced in Luang Prabang in particular since it is a heritage site protected by UNESCO and they don't want a bunch of backpackers partying to all hours of the night.

Except for the bowling alley, which is the only place open near town that sells alcohol after the bars and restaurants close at 11pm.

I was half expecting Utopia to stay open since it was PACKED full of people for St Pattys day, but they closed up shop as per usual, so I headed off to the bowling alley in the caravan of tuktuks.

Turns out the bowling alley is just a bowling alley. It's not code word for 'dance club'.

Also, turns out I'm an awful bowler.

It was all in good fun, however, and the large crowd made the best of it. I have to admit that I've never quite celebrated St Pattys day in a Laotian bowling alley, but it was a hilariously good time. Although, I definitely paid for the late night the following day on my minivan ride to Phonsavahn.